Sovern says high-skilled immigrants are needed to fill STEM jobs — science, technology, engineering, and math. He says foreign workers become researchers, engineers and entrepreneurs. They create ideas and jobs that might not otherwise exist. He says giving them a work visa is a “net gain” to every part of the economy.

“In Wisconsin with our great university system we’ve got all sorts of spin-off companies and efforts and researchers who are coming up with great new ideas, but we don’t have an immigration system that supports great new idea companies or individuals.”